Chapter 15: Two Weeks: Part Two
"Whoa, you can fly?" Ochako asked, wide eyed.
Izuku was at Ochako's apartment after school, visiting after getting a text that she had been feeling lonely. He had made his way over, not wanting to keep her waiting, but had to almost beg Aizawa to let him leave. After his stunt with the DnD session the week before, Izuku had been put on a form of house arrest, where he hadn't been allowed to leave campus for a whole week. After that had ended, Aizawa had been hesitant to let him leave, in case he tried another late night run trying to train his Quirks without the permission to use them granted to him by being on school grounds. He had to show the text Ochacko had sent, and had been allowed to go under the condition that he was back within an hour and a half. Izuku had already been at Ochako's apartment for about an hour, which meant that he'd have to leave soon. The two had gone out and Izuku had bought them both food, knowing that Ochako couldn't afford it.
He had been catching Ochako up on what had been happening at school. He had left room for pauses where Ochako could ask questions, and they had been like that for an hour. She had been thoroughly disturbed by the story of how Shigaraki had dusted the gate, and how he had almost considered giving up the title of Class Rep. Now, Izuku was talking about the USJ Incident, and had just gotten to the part where he had manifested Float for the first time.
"No, I can't fly. I can Float. They're different," Izuku groaned.
"Aren't they the same, though?" Ochako asked.
"No. I can hover in the air, but I can't move myself without needing to generate kinetic energy. I can't get into the air and move myself through my own will. I need to push off the ground, activate my Quirk, and the force I used to push off the ground will carry me, because I am no longer affected by the force of gravity. That's the best way to explain it," Izuku said, trying not to get mad.
"Oh. Like how my Quirk works," Ochacko said.
"How so?" Izuku asked, taking a bite into the burger he had bought.
"Well, my Quirk is Zero Gravity, right?" Ochako asked.
"Yeah," Izuku said.
"Zero Gravity doesn't make the things I use it on float into the air. It makes them weightless. The force of the earth spinning does that. So they're kinda similar when you look at it like that," Ochako said, not looking away from the ceiling as she spoke.
"Huh. I guess you're right. Hey, have you ever considered experimenting with your Quirk?" Izuku asked.
"How?" Ochako asked back, looking at Izuku.
"Well, I've found that taking a step back and looking at what I can do helps me find branches of abilities that I could perform. Like with Blackwhip, knowing that it was a physical object and knowing that I could influence the whips' shape helped me figure out that it could potentially be a shield, and that became my Whip Shield. Do you see where I'm going with this?" Izuku explained.
"That's easy for you to say. Your Quirk is adaptable by nature. It's literally raw energy, just waiting to be shifted into another form. Zero Gravity is a solid, stable power, with set limits," Ochako said, looking away with a pained expression.
"That may not be true. You know how I talked about helping Hagakure figure out that she could become visible if given a bit of help with technology?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah," Ochako said.
"Well, Hagakure's Invisibility was always a stable, set status that she had no control over. Now, she's been working to learn how to warp the light that comes into contact with her, and has seen some success. We've also managed to make her visible for an admittedly brief moment. We still did it, though. The same general idea of helping your Quirk with a new perspective and applied technology applies to everyone, except for powers that are so far ahead of technology, like All Might's overwhelming strength," Izuku said.
"I guess that could work. What would you say to me?" Ochako asked.
Izuku thought for a moment. He had always seen Ochako press all of the pads on her fingers onto their counterparts on her opposite hand to cancel her Quirk's effect. He had never seen her press the pads onto different pads on the same hand, and thought about what kind of effect that could have on the object her Quirk was currently activated on. Making contact with different combinations of pads on the same hand could increase gravity, make gravity turn sideways or have any of hundreds of different effects that Ochako had clearly never thought of. Izuku wasn't judging her, but he kind of thought that it was a simple conclusion to make, taking him less than a minute to make as opposed to Ochako's eleven years of having her Quirk.
"Have you ever tried to press your Grav Pads to different Pads on the same hand?" Izuku asked.
"No. I haven't. That's … a really good idea," Ochako said, slowly making the same connections that Izuku had.
Ochako sat up and grabbed the cup she had been drinking out of a few minutes earlier. She activated her Quirk on it, and began to lift into the air, floating out of her reach. Ochako, once the cup reached the ceiling, carefully pressed her middle finger's Grav Pad to the one on her thumb on the same hand, and the Pads glowed pink, the telltale sign for Zero Gravity being used.
The cup immediately glowed pink, just like the two Grav Pads, and it fell to the ground like a magnet flying toward another magnet. It was plastic, and the floor was carpeted, so it didn't smash, but the cup had fallen so quickly that Izuku had barely seen it move.
Izuku and Ochako looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear. Ochako laughed at the effect Izuku's experiment had on her powers, and cheered into the ceiling, carefully not to move her arm inside her cast. It was due to come off tomorrow, but she still had to rest for another week; Recovery Girl's orders.
"Do you know what this means? This means that my Quirk isn't Zero Gravity! It's … it's just my Grav Pads," Ochako realized.
"Grav Pads. That's not a bad name," Izuku said, glancing toward his backpack, where his notebook was hidden.
"Oh, go. Write your notes," Ochako said, knowing how comforting it was for him.
"Quirk Revision, name changed in lieu of discovering much more potential abilities. Quirk Name: Grav Pads. Description: The user, Ochako Uraraka, is able to touch objects with her Grav Pads, having one on each finger and needing to use all Pads on one hand to activate her Quirk. The initial effect is to remove the effect of gravity on the object, but additional combinations of Pads, when touched together, unlock more effects. Right Middle Finger pressed to Right Thumb: Increase Gravity," Izuku muttered as he wrote the information at a feverish pace.
Ochako looked back at the cup, noticing that the plastic was bending under the extreme gravity. She quickly cancelled her Quirk, letting the cup return to its natural shape, after bouncing away. Looking back at Izuku, Ochako saw that he was ready to write more, and gave in.
"Experiment Two: Right Index Finger to Right Thumb," Izuku said, openly talking to himself. "When you're ready," he said, look at Ochako to record the results.
Ochako used her Quirk to make the cup float, and then pressed the Grav Pads on her pointer finger and her thumb together and, once again, they lit up pink with the cup. This time, the cup flew to the left, hitting the wall at the speed it would normally drop due to gravity. Izuku returned to his notes.
"Results: Success! This combination produces the effect of shifting the object's gravity to the left. It appears to be the equivalent of one G," Izuku said as he wrote.
He walked over to the cup that had landed near him, and picked it up, handing it back to Ochako as she walked to the middle of the room again. Izuku loved this. It had been a while since he'd done some good old Quirk Analysis, and it felt nice; like he was back at home watching All Might videos and trying to figure out what on earth his Quirk was. He missed that homey feeling, and got it when it was just him and his notebook. When he thought about it, he got that feeling around Ochako, as well. He chalked it up to being good friends and moved onto his next experiment.
"Alright! Test Three: Right Ring Finger to Right Thumb," Izuku said.
Ochako made the cup float once more, and let it drift into the air before doing as Izuku had said, and pressing the Grav Pads on her ring finger and her thumb together. The cup immediately glowed pink, along with the Grav Pads, and threw itself to the right, almost going out the window. Ochako and Izuku sheepishly laughed, knowing they would have been in trouble if they had destroyed a window while experimenting with Quirks. If they had, the owner of the apartment building would be liable to sue for Destruction of Property with a Quirk, which was a chargeable offence.
"Results: Success. This combination produces the effect of shifting the object's gravity to the right. It appears to be the equivalent of one G," Izuku said, walking over and grabbing the cup once more.
Taking a closer look at the cup, he knew it couldn't take much more of this. Small cracks had splayed out across its surface, and Izuku knew that already it was done as a cup. Small pieces of it had broken off, some at the bottom, meaning it could never be used to hold liquid again, and his experiments may be the last thing it ever did. Handing the cup to Ochako, making sure she saw the cracks before proceeding.
"Test Four: Right Little Finger to Right Thumb," Izuku said, nodding to Ochako.
Ochako pressed the Grav Pads on her little finger and her thumb together, and once again, both the pads and the cup lit up pink. The cup instantly fell upwards, just as Izuku had suspected. It was the only direction the cup had yet to fall in. The cup fell toward the ceiling and finally shattered as it slammed into the hard surface, shards of plastic floating around. Izuku nodded to Ochako to release her Quirk, and the shards began to fall to the ground.
Izuku threw his hand out and shot out five different, smaller strands of Blackwhip to catch a shard each, which managed to catch all but one of the shards. As the final part of the cup fell to the ground, Izuku decided to try something he had been thinking about for a long while. The way he had seen Tsu do so many times, Izuku thrust his head forward and poked his tongue out, willing Blackwhip to manifest out of the tip of his tongue. To his surprise, it worked, and a smaller, thin strand of Blackwhip shot out and curled around the final part of the cup, and as he pulled his tongue back in, the shard flew toward his face. Izuku caught the shard, making it join the five other pieces in his hand, and looked at Ochako.
"You're getting really good at controlling Blackwhip," Ochako said, relaxing.
"Thanks. I've been training a lot in the lead up to the Sports Festival," Izuku said, dropping the pieces in a trash can.
"When is that, by the way?" Ochako asked, sitting down against the wall.
"This coming Monday," Izuku said, joining her on the ground and writing in his notebook the results of his last test.
"Wait, that's in three days!" Ochako shouted.
"Yeah. Everyone at school is really excited," Izuku said, something in his voice making Ochako worry.
"You don't sound like you're excited," she said, tilting her head.
"I am, I just know how hard everyone's going to be trying. It's making me want to try my best, not that I wasn't going to. I just feel like I'm cheating somehow. With Super Strength, Blackwhip and Float, I feel like I have three fully fleshed out Quirks at my disposal, but I'm only using them a third of the time. I feel like I'm cheating the Festival, cheating our classmates and cheating myself," Izuku admitted.
"You think you should focus on one power to make it fair?" Ochako asked.
"Maybe? I don't know. I know that I'm just using my powers to the best of my abilities, but the only other person that gets close to my best is Todoroki, because he basically has two Quirks of his own. That may sound a bit arrogant, or self-centred, but I'm just worried that the others hate me because of my powers," Izuku said, closing his eyes.
"That could never happen!" Ochako said.
"I know. I know that it's a stupid, irrational fear, but it's one I can't help but have. I've been hated and judged because of my Quirk status for my whole life, and I'm still in that mindset, I think, of them turning on me at any turn," Izuku said.
Izuku's phone buzzed, and he immediately checked it. It was a message from All Might, asking him to meet with him when he has the chance before the festival. He closed his eyes, sighed deeply and stood up, walking over to his backpack in the corner.
"I have to get back to UA. A … izawa needs to talk to me about something, and he needs to tell me as soon as possible," Izuku said.
"Alright. Thanks for stopping by, even though you didn't have to," Ochako said.
"I had to," he replied, smiling before walking out the door and running down the stairs.
When he arrived at the teachers' lounge, which he had become increasingly comfortable with over the course of his time living just beyond it, he walked in and set his backpack on a chair to the side. He went over and sat on a chair next to Midnight, who was reading the book the class was studying in Hero History, The Meta Liberation War by an old freedom fighter named Destro.
"Yo, 'Zuku. What's up?" she asked, not looking away from the book.
"Hey, Kayama. All Might said to meet up with him here, so I'll wait until he gets here," Izuku said, leaning into his seat.
All Might had gotten out of the hospital a few days after the USJ Incident, and they had begun having talks in the lounge after class and during lunch. He had to come up with more and more elaborate excuses to get out of eating lunch with Shinso and Tsu, or writing some more of his speech with Kendo, or planning out the next Class Rep meeting with Yaoyorozu, but he managed it. All Might was liable to pull him out of lunch to talk about just about anything, and Izuku sometimes thought that All Might didn't really have a reason, just wanting company. He had noticed that even the man's own coworkers viewed All Might as this untouchable entity, something other than human, and not as a man, the man that Izuku had gotten to know. That irritated him, and he had brought it up to Midnight and Mic a few times to success. The staff had started to recognize when they were deifying All Might and had started to back away from that mindset, much to Izuku's appreciation.
Izuku had grown to be far more comfortable with the teachers and staff than he had ever expected. The teachers even had nicknames for him, such as Midnight's ''Zuku', which she had started calling him after he had tiredly said his own name after pulling an all-nighter to study for a test she had given him. He had a variety of nicknames, but his favorite was 'Problem Child', given to him by Aizawa, though the man adamantly refused calling him this. Midnight had told him about his teacher's name for him after school one day, and it warmed Izuku's heart to know he had a special place in Aizawa's heart, even if it was mock hatred.
Midnight had taken on a kind of 'big sister' role for Izuku, and reveled in it. Present Mic was kind of a cool older brother who would sometimes bring him souvenirs from Hero patrols, even though Aizawa told him not to. All Might took the cake, though, and everyone knew it. The staff had rarely heard them talking, but when they did, they had told Izuku that they were taken in by the homey feeling of the two's energy. Midnight was by far the most enthusiastic about the whole 'Izuku is All Might's real son' theory, which he didn't mind.
Izuku had recently gotten permission to call Midnight and Present Mic by their names, but stuck to Present Mic's Hero code name, due to his real one being oddly similar to his father's name. Present Mic's name was Hizashi Yamada, where Izuku's father was called Hisashi Midoriya, and it wasn't a connection he liked making. Izuku tended to call Mic by his Hero name, then, to avoid the feelings his father brought up.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Izuku saw All Might in his true form walk into the lounge. He spotted Izuku and smiled, and Izuku smiled back. All Might sat down next to Izuku and asked him about his day, and Izuku told him about his visit to Ochako, and how they had experimented with her Quirk.
"You truly have a unique mind when it comes to Quirks, my boy," All Might said, ruffling Izuku's hair.
"Thanks. Uh, what did you wanna talk about?" Izuku asked.
All Might glanced over at Midnight, who, despite having her nose buried in her book, was listening intently. Izuku chuckled to himself as Midnight walked out of the lounge, pouting. She made a face at All Might as she closed the door, getting Izuku to laugh out loud, giggling like a little kid. She closed the door, satisfied.
"So, the Sports Festival is in three days," All Might said, moving to sit across from his successor.
"Yeah. Do you think I'm ready?" Izuku asked.
"Definitely. You've come a long way, and not just in your application of parallel processing. Your safe limit of One for All has raised from five percent to seven percent in just ten days! I'm so proud of you!" All Might said.
"Yeah, well, I couldn't have done any of this without your guidance and your Quirk, so thank you," Izuku replied.
All Might sighed, and Izuku wondered if he had said something wrong.
"You always call it my Quirk, and my power. Young Midoriya, I think it's safe to say that you've begun to make One for All your own, or have at least differentiated yourself from me enough to the point where you're your own Hero, now. Two of your Quirks weren't even available to me, and you'll manifest four more by the time you've mastered OFA! That brings me to the reason I called you here," All Might said, patting Izuku on the shoulder.
"What is it?" Izuku asked.
"I want you to announce to the world that 'YOU ARE HERE' at this Sports Festival. I want you to show that you have the stuff to become the next Symbol, just like I know you can. You've proved that to me, but you need to prove that to them. Japan. They'll need a new Symbol, and they'll need that new Symbol to be just as powerful as I was, and that's where you come in. They'll need a new Symbol, but they won't want one that is just like me. They'll want one that can be more powerful, while still retaining the same philosophy, and you've already proven that you've got the stuff, Young Midoriya," All Might explained.
"All Might," Izuku sighed.
"I was wrong when I said you can be the next me; the next Symbol of Peace. No, you can be something more; a different symbol. Get ready to introduce the world to Izuku Midoriya, the Symbol of Hope," All Might said, shifting into his heroic form in a fit of passion.
"Ah! All Might, conserve your energy!" Izuku said, and All Might shifted back into his skeletal form.
"Sorry. I got a bit … worked up. I'm well aware that I'm down to only fifty minutes after that damned Nomu reopened my wound from All for One," All Might apologized, sitting back down.
"Is there any news on that front?" Izuku asked, scared to even say the Villain's name.
"No. The League of Villains hasn't made a move since the USJ. All for One is biding his time, waiting for me to make the next move. I won't play his game, though. I'm going to take him down so that you don't have to. Don't you worry, Young Midoriya. You'll never have to fight the evil that is All for One while I live," All Might said, trying to be a positive reassurement to Izuku.
It was the opposite. Izuku knew that All Might didn't have much time left as a Hero, his leftover sparks of One for All being used up every time he used his power. Those sparks were small, and they were dwindling faster than Izuku's own powers were growing. That, partnered with the reduced time in his heroic form due to his recent battle with Nomu at the USJ, spelled out trouble for All Might in the near future, and Izuku feared that he may die before Izuku got to show the man what a great Hero he could be.
"So, will you do it? Will you announce yourself as the future Symbol of Hope during the Sports Festival?" All Might asked, grinning from ear to ear, already knowing the answer.
"Yes. I'll show the world that I can be the greatest Hero," Izuku said, flashing All Might's grin back to him.
"Then, let's get to work," All Might said.
Chapter 16: Two Weeks: Part Three
The day after his promise to All Might, Izuku was standing in the more open portion of the Development Studio with Hagakure and Power Loader during their lunch break. It had become a routine over the last week to meet in the Studio during breaks, as well as before and after school, and test the Invisi-Suit, as Power Loader had taken to calling it. So far they hadn't had another success like the first time, but every time the gauntlet failed, he had tinkered with it, made it sleeker, better and gradually implemented it into a bodysuit that responded to the gauntlet's invisibility capabilities, thus giving Hagakure an actual costume like her and Izuku had talked about if it worked. Right now, they were on their third test of the morning, Power Loader having taken notes on the first two failures, noting that the first two were purely accidental.
First, Hagakure had pressed too hard on the pad on her forearm, now a much more intuitive design, with her having to swipe along the pad toward her hand for invisibility, and up her arm for visibility. The other had her swiping the wrong way. Neither of them had worked, pressing too hard being one of the conditions in which the suit doesn't respond, due to that kind of thing only happening accidentally in a fight, and the other swiping the direction that activates the state the suit was already in, visible.
Now was the moment of truth. Hagakure pressed her fingers to the pad and swiped toward her hand, and the whole suit disappeared. Izuku took a deep breath. That was step one. They had only ever gotten this far without some sort of accident at step two. He could hear that Hagakure was taking deep breaths, trying not to get worked up. She heard the swiping on the pad of her fingers, and it happened.
The suit started to appear, by the toes first, the visibility almost crawling up Hagakure in an instant. Hagakure stood there, not noticing a change. Izuku saw that she had her eyes shut, squeezed tightly in anticipation. He understood it, but it was a funny face. She opened her eyes, confirming for Izuku that they were brown, and looked at Izuku and Power Loader, seeing that they were making eye contact with her.
"It worked?" Hagakure asked.
"It worked. We can see you," Izuku said, grinning from ear to ear.
Hagakure looked down, seeing her body. She moved her hands around, in awe. She kicked her leg forward, and laughed. She ran forward, hugging Izuku tightly. Izuku returned the hug, glad that the Invisi-Suit had finally worked. The two separated, and they shared a moment of joyous celebration.
"Thank you so much! Both of you! Midoriya, thank you for the idea of … this in the first place, and Power Loader, thank you for making it a real thing. This has been a dream since I could dream! Thank you!" Hagakure said, beginning to tear up.
Izuku followed Hagakure's eyeline to the mirror they had left beside him. He grabbed it and pushed it toward her, letting her take it. She eyed the mirror hesitantly, but took it with fervor. She looked at her face for the first time and immediately gasped, before laughing while her eyes watered. Hagakure had a round face, with wide eyes that were naturally very expressive, which was ironic considering her invisibility. She had a wide smile, and thinner eyebrows. She was exceptionally pretty, and Izuku had to stop himself from giving in to the light blush that spread across his cheeks as he watched her stare into the mirror in awe.
Hagakure reached up and put her hand through her hair, wincing when her fingers got caught easily. She laughed, and Izuku knew she was really considering investing in quality hair products. She and Izuku locked eyes again, and grinned so brightly that it almost hurt.
She leapt into Izuku's arms again, planting a kiss on his cheek as a thank you, though she had already said it maybe a thousand times since they had started these tests. Trying to keep himself from dying, Izuku wondered if they should really show the person he was thinking of, but Hagakure beat him to it.
"Oh, can I …?" Hagakure asked, trailing off and turning to Power Loader as she began to move toward the door.
"Take the suit. It's yours," Power Loader said, leaning back against his desk with a satisfied smile.
The two slid into Class-1A's Homeroom, with just Aizawa inside grading some test papers from the day before. He looked over to them, lazily waving to Izuku but freezing when he saw Hagakure. He was staring at her face, with an unreadable expression. Somewhere between disbelief and pride.
"You did it," Aizawa said, standing up.
"We did it," Izuku confirmed.
"Isn't this incredible? I can have a normal life! I can … I can make eye contact, I can do so many other things that I've never been able to do!" Hagakure said.
"You did it," Aizawa repeated, looking more toward Izuku.
"I didn't do it alone! Power Loader did most of the work, I just had a vague idea about how to start. He and his Support Course students programmed the suit and the tech that makes it work," Izuku said.
"It's astonishing that you even thought of it, though. You're coming with me after school to see Nezu," Aizawa said, before walking out of the classroom.
"You'd think the guy would be happy for me," Hagakure said, pouting.
"He is! I know he is. He's just not great at showing these types of things," Izuku said.
Hagakure smiled, but Izuku could tell it was put on. She looked at her hands again, the suit covering them. She swiped the Invisi-Pad a few times, switching between the two states of visibility. She became visible the last time with a more thoughtful expression, and turned to Izuku.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked.
"Uh … yes. You're … b-beautiful," Izuku said, wondering where this was going.
She chuckled under her breath. Hagakure played with her frizzy hair for a moment, before turning back to Izuku with a nervous smile.
"I think … that you're pretty cute, too. I like your freckles, and your hair. I think I like you. I want something … more than friendship with you. I get that you probably don't feel the same way, but I just had to get that off my chest," Hagakure said, looking deep into Izuku's eyes.
"Oh … you're right. I … I don't feel the same. I'm sorry. I've only thought of you as a friend, Hagakure. I'm not even sure I've ever felt what you're feeling, so it has nothing to do with you. It's me. I know that sounds like a line straight from a movie, but it's true. You are a very pretty girl … Tooru. You'll find someone if you look. I'm sorry that I'm not that person for you, but I'm not sure I can be. I just … don't feel things like that," Izuku said, piecing together how he felt together on the spot.
"That's okay. I had figured out that you don't really seem to like anyone. You weren't embarrassed to talk to me in my first Hero costume because I was naked, and that was … I don't know … enticing to you somehow. You were worried about how it might affect me, like hypothermia and stuff. I get that now. You don't think of anyone like that," Hagakure said.
"I don't know if there's something wrong with me, or if I'm just broken, but-" Izuku tried.
"Hey! You are not broken. There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling. It's called being asexual. It's completely normal, and nothing to be ashamed of," Hagakure said, lightly hitting Izuku on the shoulder.
"Asexual? That's … a thing? Kaminari thought that I might be gay, but is there really more to it than that?" Izuku asked.
"Jeez, you were sheltered. Look, search up the term 'asexual' on the internet and then get back to me. I'm always here if you need to talk," Hagakure said, before hugging Izuku quickly and leaving.
Izuku went to his seat and started to read about asexuality, and how common it was. He was amazed to find that there were other people like him, who simply felt … nothing romantic or sexual toward people of either sex. He had read that the exact term he identified the closest with was 'aromantic/asexual', and began to research it. He had zoned out, but snapped back to reality when Aizawa walked back in. Izuku immediately hid his phone from sight, even though the students were allowed to use them outside of class hours. That meant that, during breaks and before and after school if the students happened to be on campus. Aizawa paused, giving him a strange look, before continuing to his spot on the floor. Izuku realized how bad that was, to feverishly conceal one's phone screen, but thought to leave it alone, since it could only be awkward for both of them to talk about.
Soon after that, people began to filter in, including a visible Hagakure, now with her uniform on over the Invisi-Pad, that walked to the front of the class. Power Loader had made the Invisi-Pad detachable from the main suit for everyday purposes, which Hagakure greatly appreciated. People were confusedly whispering between themselves about who the stranger was. Hagakure had combed her hair back and tied it back, giving her a less wild appearance, and winked at Izuku. He grinned excitedly, and people were beginning to get suspicious.
"Uh, can we help you, miss?" Kirishima asked.
"Um … hi, guys," Hagakure said, and the class went into a frenzy, recognizing her voice.
"HAGAKURE!?" the class screamed.
"Yep! It's me! Thanks to this, I can be seen! It's basically just a more advanced Quirk cancelling collar that they use on criminals, but Izuku and Power Loader developed it to the point where it can toggle between visible and invisible. It also affects my clothes and stuff! See?" Hagakure said, switching between the two states to showcase the Invisi-Pad's power.
Izuku caught the use of his given name. It was only reasonable. He had called Hagakure by her given name, which was all kinds of scary for him, especially since he had done so without prompting. He had been taking bigger and bigger leaps with his ability to talk to people since taking up the position of Class Rep, and he was finally beginning to be okay at conversation.
"You built that?" the people around Izuku asked him.
"I just came up with the idea that a costume could be made that, while protecting Hagakure's body, was still invisibile. That evolved from using her DNA as a base for the material to a Quirk cancelling device built into the suit. Power Loader got the resources and actually built the thing, so most of the credit goes to him," Izuku said, chuckling to himself.
"Nah, dude. You're, like, a genius," Kaminari said.
"Yeah. You should've seen him explaining the idea to Power Loader. He was … really cool," Hagakure said, hesitating on what to call Izuku.
Izuku and Hagakure locked eyes and remembered their conversation from earlier. She quickly made her way to her seat, and Aizawa stood, taking her place at the front of the class. He looked around at the class, and Izuku caught the small smirk that appeared when he got to Hagakure. He didcare, he was just awkward about it.
"Alright. Now, you all know that the Sports Festival is this coming Monday, which means that you'll only have one more day of training, as well as the weekend, though that time should be spent resting before the big day. You've all come a long way, and I want to show you that, since I know some of you are doubting your abilities. We're going to have a test," Aizawa said.
What kind of test? Was it combat or solo testing? Izuku's mind raced through so many questions.
"I'll be conducting another Quirk Apprehension Test," Aizawa said.
"Huh? Like the first day of class when you threatened to expel us all?" Ashido asked.
"Yes, exactly. There's no better way to see how you've improved than to go back to basics and see how you shape up against you from the past," Aizawa said, walking out of the classroom.
The class followed their teacher. Izuku thought about Aizawa's reasoning, and thought it was good, but confusing. How could they really have improved so much in just three weeks? Izuku himself had unlocked another Quirk, but that was expected of him, and the others didn't know it was a separate Quirk. He had also increased his base One for All limit to about six percent instead of five, which was still four percent short of what he had wanted, but All Might had told him it didn't matter much what exact percentage he was using during the Festival, so long as it was above the five percent he had been working with.
The class made their way to the athletics field, the same one where they had their very first lesson at UA on. They had learned, that day, how tough UA was going to be. In some ways, Izuku was grateful for Aizawa's bluntness and his straightforwardness, but another part of him had wanted to keep his child-like glee at being in the top ranked Hero school in Japan for a bit longer.
"Alright, you know how it works, first up is the Ball Throw," Aizawa said, tossing the ball into the air over the cluster of students.
Izuku, seeing the ball, was excited now. He really had a chance to show off how much he'd grown, not just to Aizawa, or his classmates, but to himself. He needed to know what he was capable of now, and this was his chance to find out.
He yanked the ball toward himself with Blackwhip, causing everyone else to boo him playfully. He walked over to the circle, but turned to look at Aizawa.
"Anything except leaving the circle is allowed, yes?" Izuku asked.
"Yes," Aizawa answered.
"What are the rules on verticality?" Izuku asked.
"No more than the students maximum, natural altitude may be reached. No Floating," Aizawa said, smirking.
Izuku grimaced, but threw his hand back anyway. Izuku did the same thing he had done in the first test, attaching the ball to the end of a Blackwhip, and began to spin it around, slowly letting it build speed. As he felt the ball building speed, he felt around inside his core for One for All, and pulled the power into the arm that was holding the Blackwhip connected to the ball. He then, with six percent of One for All, began spinning the ball harder, faster, until it began to hurt Izuku's wrist.
It was only then that Izuku threw his hand back and pitched it forward in a burst of speed, making the ball fly forward at a speed so fast that Izuku nearly couldn't see it. The ball flew for a long while, but landed with a beep on Aizawa's device.
"One thousand metres, on the spot," Aizawa said, pleased.
"He threw it a kilometre away?" Kaminari asked, in awe.
"Whoa," Hagakure sighed.
"Alright, enough of this. Let me show you what real poweris," Bakugo said, taking a ball from Aizawa roughly.
Izuku stepped out of the way, letting Bakugo into the circle. The blond had been getting better with dealing with his anger, but Izuku supposed it was only natural for it to be exacerbated by a competition.
Bakugo spun around and fired off a large explosion, sending the ball into the sky in a flash of power. The ball soared, almost as long as Izuku's did, until the beep from Aizawa's device told the class it had landed.
"Eight hundred and forty six metres. Well done, Bakugo," Aizawa said.
"Fuck!" Bakugo said, walking back to his spot at the back of the group.
Izuku made his way over to the blond's position. The two stood in silence for a few moments, before Izuku made the first move.
"Nice throw," he said.
"I know it was," Bakugo snapped.
"Hey, I'm not here to fight. You've improved a lot, and I'm glad you have. You'll be a wonderful Hero someday," Izuku said.
"Not if you keep doing whatever the fuck you're doing," Bakugo said.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"You've had your Quirk for almost three months, according to you, and you've already caught up and surpassed this class," Bakugo said, flicking his eyes between Aizawa and Iida, the person who was throwing.
"What?" Izuku asked, taken aback.
"Don't play dumb with me, Deku. You've outgrown this class, but you haven't outgrown me. That Half-and-Half kid's better than all those other schmucks too, but he'll never say anything about it," Bakugo said.
"What are you trying to say?" Izuku asked.
"I'm saying that it's weird how good you are with your Quirk. I'm not accusing you of anything yet, but keep that in mind. I'm watching you," Bakugo said, before walking around the side of the group to yell at Aizawa that he was taking too long.
Izuku had to admit, it was kind of strange how Izuku could go from having no powers, to having three separate abilities within the span of three months, citing 'creativity' as their source. It was all happenstance, really. He had received One for All, and that conditions were met to manifest Blackwhip during the entrance exam. The same had happened at the USJ. The conditions for manifesting Float were met as he was falling with Shinso. It was all a great big coincidence that he could use his predecessors' Quirks at all. Or was it? Izuku knew that he had been given these Quirks for a reason, and that reason was probably to battle All for One in a final battle sometime in the future, but he didn't know if All Might was going to stay true to his word, fighting AFO so that Izuku didn't have to, or if he would have to retire before that ever happened.
Izuku realized that the Ball Throw had ended, and that the class was moving on to the Fifty Metre Dash. Aizawa decided to keep the same structure for every test, so Izuku and Bakugo went first. The two lined up at the starting line and, once the signal sounded out, took off.
He pushed One for All into his legs, kicking off the ground with blinding speed. He made it about fifteen metres before he needed to leap again. Overall, Izuku only needed to touch the ground three times, making it past the finish line in just over five seconds. Bakugo had crossed the line in under three seconds, using his larger explosions to fly over the track and blitz past Izuku.
Izuku and Bakugo locked eyes, Bakugo smirking to himself. Izuku tried not to get agitated by the expression that he crossed his tormentor's face every time he was about to get beaten, and walked away. He went and sat on the ground next to Tsu and Shinso, who were waiting for their turns.
"Hey," Shinso said.
"Hi," Izuku said back.
Shinso was looking much better. He had finally gotten some sleep after Izuku had nagged him about it for a few days. Izuku had been researching the rate of insomnia diagnosis in people with mind control Quirks, and it was surprisingly high. It was one in every five people who had a Quirk that controlled another person's mind in some way that had troubles with falling and staying asleep, and nobody knew why. Someone had reasoned that it was because their minds were always 'on', always searching for others. That had been debunked, but Izuku liked the idea of their Quirks being to blame, and had started thinking of ways to combat that effect.
He had also been getting a lot more sleep than usual because of his new workout plan. Izuku had given him the 'American Dream Plan', the writeup of All Might's training plan for Izuku when he was working to receive One for All. He had taken almost half of it out, because Shinso wasn't going to be receiving any hurricane level strength anytime soon, or at least Izuku hoped. He probably wouldn't be able to handle it. Izuku had barely been able to accept the transfer of OFA, and if Shinso tried as he was, it would end badly.
He had also given tips to Tsu about leg exercises, since she had confessed wanting to get stronger so that she could leap further after the incident at the USJ where she had dropped Shinso, requiring Izuku to manifest Float to save him. She had also tearfully apologized to Shinso, but the two had talked it out, and Shinso hadn't blamed her, only himself for being too heavy.
Tsu and Shinso were becoming extremely good friends, Izuku had noted. He wondered if they spent time together outside of school, like he did with Ochako. His visits to Ochako being outside school hours were technically by necessity, though, as she wasn't allowed to actually come to school, but that was a different point.
After a while, Aizawa announced the next test. The class moved on, and spent the rest of their Foundational Heroics class. Izuku found the tests to be much easier now that he had somewhat gained control over One for All. He still couldn't handle higher outputs, but it was a start. All Might had said it himself, he was on his way to becoming the next Symbol. Izuku wasn't sure about the 'Symbol of Strength' thing All Might had talked about, but he was willing to talk it out with his predecessor after the Festival.
At the end of the tests, once the group was back inside, Aizawa projected a table onto the blackboard behind him showing the results. Out of nineteen students, Izuku had come fourth. First place went to Yaoyorozu, second went to Todoroki, third went to Bakugo and fourth to Izuku. Iida came in fifth behind Izuku, and Tsu in sixth behind Iida.
Izuku was proud of his score, having moved up three places since the last test. He wondered if the class was going to do a test like this at the beginning of every year, or every semester, but put that thought aside as a new, more important one took its place. Was Aizawa going to be their Homeroom teacher for their entire time at UA? Just their first year? How did the swapping of teachers work, if it worked at all? All these questions were put aside when Aizawa dismissed the class, and the two began to make their way to Nezu's office.
He had heard a lot about Nezu, the principal of UA. He had been the principal almost as long as Izuku had been alive, and he was feared by everyone who knew him. He wasn't human, a rare case of an animal developing a Quirk, or if you believed the 'Mouse Theory' on the origin of Quirks in humankind, one of the only natural cases. He was some sort of amalgamation of a mouse, a bear, a dog and a human, with above human tier intelligence and a sadistic side that all in the Hero business feared. Izuku was about to sit down and have a lovely chat with that.
Aizawa walked in like he didn't fear death. Izuku followed, much more nervous, and the two sat in front of the principal, across the desk that was clearly built for a human. Nezu looked Izuku in the eyes and grinned, though with his beady eyes and his sharp teeth, it was much more menacing than Izuku was sure the principal intended. Maybe.
"Izuku Midoriya. It's a pleasure to meet you," Nezu said, his soft voice clashing with the intimidating atmosphere.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, sir," Izuku said, bowing to his principal.
"I've been told that you're quite the thinker. Is this correct?" Nezu asked.
"I like to think so. I've been doing Quirk Analysis since I was five, and I've certainly gotten better at it," Izuku laughed.
"That's good. I was told about a project that you and Miss Hagakure undertook with Power Loader and the Support Department these past few weeks," Nezu said.
"Yes. It's been a huge success! When Hagakure told me about her Quirk, she described it in a way that felt off to me. I wanted to see if, instead of being permanently invisible, I could come up with a way to make her change between being invisible and visible when she wanted, and we've done just that. We actually finished up testing this afternoon. She's been wearing the Invisi-Pad ever since," Izuku explained.
"Ah, that's what the Quirk Override Collar from Tartarus was for," Nezu said, a knowing glint in his eye.
"Uh, yeah. It was the only thing strong enough that I could think of that could suppress Hagakure's Quirk in the way we wanted," Izuku said, sheepishly smiling.
"Tell me, do you have an intelligence Quirk somewhere in there?" Nezu asked, beginning to fidget with his fingers.
"Uh … I'm not sure what you mean by …" Izuku trailed off, seeing that the fidgeting was actually letters. Specifically, the letters 'O', 'F' and 'A'. Izuku remembered All Might telling him that Nezu knew, but had put it out of his mind, because he thought it would never really come up for some reason.
"No. I don't," Izuku said, understand what the principal was trying to ask without alerting Aizawa.
"That's odd. I don't think I've ever met a person who had your brains, creativity and heroic spark, all at such a young age!" Nezu said.
"Thank you, sir," Izuku said.
"Midoriya, I would like to offer you my services. If you come here every afternoon, I will teach you to hone those smarts, that creativity in the way you use your powers, as well as how you analyze others'. I can help you become the smartest you that you could possibly be for only an extra hour and a half per day," Nezu offered, glaring into Izuku's eyes.
"Of course. I'd love to! That'd be great! Thank you, sir!" Izuku said, without hesitation.
Izuku had been skeptical of Nezu's motives for talking with him, but now that he knew the principal just wanted to help Izuku be greater, he didn't seem so bad. Now that Izuku was seeing Nezu in a more positive light, he could see that his fur was actually very lustrous, and had to resist the temptation to pat him. He'd ask another time, when Aizawa was gone.
"Great! We can start the first day back from the Sports Festival!" Nezu said, spinning around in his chair.
"Sounds good," Izuku agreed.
"Hold on. I'd trust you with my life, Nezu, but not with his. What are you doing?" Aizawa interjected, a bead of sweat falling down his face.
"I'm just trying to foster a young man's mind. What are youdoing, Shota?" Nezu asked, an eerie aura coming off him.
"I'm trying to make sure he survives until his third year. Your tutelage actively goes against that. I'm sorry, Nezu, but you're a horrible teacher. You just make more of you," Aizawa said, standing up.
"Now, now, Shota. I'm your employer. I control your paycheck," Nezu said.
"I still go out on patrol, rat. I get paid by the Hero Commission, too, you self-centred animal," Aizawa said.
Aizawa was getting worked up, more worked up than Izuku had ever seen him, even at the USJ. Izuku would have been flattered that he was so worried about his safety that he would openly oppose his boss. Izuku saw that Aizawa's eyes were glowing red, and that his hair was sticking up, the sign that his Quirk was active.
"Aizawa, let it go," Nezue said, losing a bit of his calm demeanor.
"There's no need to fight," Izuku said, putting his hands up between the two.
"Midoriya, I think you should go," Aizawa said.
"No!" Izuku yelled, firing Blackwhip between the two adults.
Aizawa immediately snapped his attention to Izuku, activating his Quirk once again. Izuku felt his connection to One for All vanish, and Blackwhip evaporated before his eyes, fading into small wisps of smoke that quickly faded themselves. Izuku and Aizawa stared at one another, daring the other to do something.
Izuku looked away, trying his best not to react physically to the absence of his Quirks. He always had a feeling that the Quirk's original user, whether it be Lariat or Nana, was watching over him while he used it. Blackwhip always felt empowering, like it was growing more powerful as his confidence grew, and Float always felt protective, like Nana herself was making sure he would be alright as long as he was Floating. Now, though, that feeling was gone. All of those feelings were gone. It was scary, if Izuku was being honest.
He ran. He needed to get away from Aizawa, to get out of his line of sight so that his Quirk could return and the safe feeling he associated with the vestiges could return. As he left the office, he kept moving, sprinting down the hall so that he could get away from his teacher. As he turned another corner, Izuku felt One for All flood through him, as he had been trying to activate it the whole time.
Izuku slammed into a wall due to the sudden burst of speed. He quickly got up and ran away to the teachers' lounge, bypassing Midnight and Present Mic to get to his room. Izuku felt like every breath was just too short, but he was breathing fine. He looked around and saw a wispy form in the shape of a woman, the same aura of protection and safety exuding from her. Izuku knew it was Nana, as she had the same cape. The figure solidified into Nana's form, and smiled at Izuku.
"Izuku, you're panicking," Nana said.
"I can't breathe!" Izuku whined, sitting curled up in a ball in the corner.
"You can. You're having a panic attack. It's okay. I'm here with you; you're safe. Nothing's going to hurt you, okay?" Nana said, sitting down on the bed.
Izuku took a deep breath, and felt all the air get sucked into his lungs for the first time in a minute. He kept breathing for a moment, before catching his breath entirely and leaning tiredly against the wall. Izuku looked to Nana, wondering how she was there.
"I'm not really. I'm just a manifestation of your desire for your Mom. One for All is more than anyone has ever believed. It can respond to the wishes of the user, to an extent. It's letting us talk, because you need a Mom, and I'm willing to be that for you," Nana said.
"So … you're in my head?" Izuku trailed off, not knowing what he was even going to say.
"Not quite, though I don't know the exact rules. Nobody's ever done this before. Know this, though, Little Izuku: We're here for you. When you feel like you're not enough, or that you can't win, think of us. We're going to be rooting for you from within your heart, making sure you have the confidence to win," Nana said, smiling brightly.
"Thank you, Nana. I just … forgot what it was like to not have a Quirk, that constant voice in my head, and it scared me," Izuku said.
"That's okay. You're fifteen; nobody's expecting you to be a fearless Hero," Nana said, standing up and walking toward Izuku.
Nana held her hand out for Izuku to grab onto, and he took it with some hesitation. To their surprise, their hands actually touched, and Nana was able to pull Izuku off the ground and help him stand. Izuku looked at Nana, shuffling awkwardly in front of her. He didn't know what to do, but he knew what he wanted to do.
"Go ahead, Izuku," Nana said, opening her arms for a hug.
Izuku immediately wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as he let the tears that he had been holding back fall. The two stayed like that, Nana gladly supporting Izuku, and Izuku leaning into Nana's maternal embrace. Izuku shamelessly cried into Nana's costume. He heard Nana chuckle, and pulled away to see her fading away into smoke.
"Good luck in the Festival, Little Izuku," Nana said, before fading away entirely.
His arms fell to his side, no longer supported by Nana's body. Izuku looked around, not wanting anybody to have seen that. He was sure he would've looked insane, like a person hugging the air while crying. He quickly got to bed, making sure that he got plenty of sleep before the Festival was due to begin in two days. It was only Saturday and Sunday to go, and Izuku felt ready.
Chapter 17: Opening Ceremony
It was the day of the Festival. Izuku was sitting on his bed, excitedly putting on his shoes as he got ready. All the students were told that they didn't need to wear their full uniform, only their Gym uniforms to class before heading out to the stadium for the main events. Izuku finished getting ready, looking in the mirror that Midnight had gifted him. He smiled, knowing that today was the day that he was to prove himself as a future Symbol. He felt One for All swirl around inside him, and knew that he had his family by his side.
He thought about Inko, and how she would likely be watching the Festival. Izuku paused, seeing his expression change into a mournful one, but quickly took some deep breaths and steadied himself, managing to smile despite the few tears pooling in his eyes.
Izuku decided to step out of his room and rip the band-aid off, getting all the teachers that were currently in the lounge, Midnight, Aizawa and Present Mic, to look at him excitedly. He knew that Aizawa looked unaffected most of the time, but he was secretly the most emotional of the bunch when it came to his students. That's what he liked about Aizawa; he cared about each and every one of his students, believing in them wholeheartedly.
"Hey!" Midnight said.
"Good morning, Kayama. How was your weekend?" Izuku asked, sitting on the sofa across from her.
"It was as lonely as ever. You love me though, right?" Midnight asked jokingly.
"Oh, of course!" Izuku said, joining Midnight in laughing like they had told the funniest joke in the world.
After a moment, Izuku thought about how truly grateful he was for the teachers being so understanding about his situation. He supposed it was only natural for Heroes to be so cool about his living situation, but it was still something he hadn't always had, so Izuku was still eternally grateful for their attitudes toward him living on campus.
"Are you excited for the Festival?" Present Mic asked.
"I am! I think that I've made some progress with my Quirk, so I'm eager to show the world what I can do," Izuku said.
"You've jumped from five percent to six percen. That wasn't quite what you wanted, but it's something. You're calling on Blackwhip and Float faster and easier than ever. I'd say you've proved that you're progressing," Aizawa said from the floor.
"I know that I've proved it to you guys, but I want to show the world. I want to look into the cameras and announce that I'm going to be a Hero," Izuku said, leaning back in his seat.
He heard a shuffling on the ground, and looked to see Aizawa standing up. He looked over at Present Mic, who nodded with a serious expression. The two began to walk away, and once they were gone, Izuku looked to Midnight with a confused look.
"They're commentating on the Festival," she explained.
"Together?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah. Mic was the only one doing it to start with, but he kept pestering Shota until he caved. He won't admit it, but he really likes spending time with Mic. I think he just wants to look like a tough, hardened underground Hero, but really he's just a big softie," Midnight said, kicking her feet off the seat like a kid.
"Huh. Do you act differently when you're in costume?" Izuku asked.
"Oh, 'Zuku. Of course I do. We all do, even All Might. We have to act differently because we have certain expectations that need to be upheld," Midnight said, sitting up properly.
"How?" Izuku asked.
"Well … let's talk about the Pro Hero, Midnight. She's sexy, promiscuous and sadistic. She has to be because she has been for a decade. She has to wear extremely thin fabrics so that she can easily use her Quirk, but that's Midnight. Nemuri Kayama? She's a whole different beast. She's smart, she likes to read; she teaches history, for God's sake! Do you get what I mean?" Midnight explained.
"I think I do," Izuku said, furrowing his brow.
"Good," Midnight said, leaning back.
"Which of the two are you now?" Izuku asked.
"I'm always Nemuri with you, kid," Midnight said, ruffling Izuku's hair as she stood up.
"Where are you going? There's still about an hour until the Festival begins," Izuku said.
"Oh, right. I'm refereeing the Festival!" Midnight said, grinning widely as she walked out of the lounge.
Izuku smiled, knowing that Midnight's particular blend of theatricality and earnestness made her the perfect host for the Sports Festival. He waited, quickly ate breakfast and set off, not wanting to be late for possibly the most important event in his career as a Hero. He walked down the halls, despite their still being about half an hour left until he had to be in the classroom.
He had taken to walking around the campus every day before classes started. Izuku liked the feeling of getting to know UA, like he was slowly memorizing the hallways and the routes to get to the different training grounds and classrooms. He liked the feeling of familiarity with something so grand and out of reach, kind of like how he felt with All Might.
As Izuku turned a corner, he bumped into All Might in his true form. The two panicked for a moment, before recognizing the other and smiling. Izuku had been uncomfortable around All Might to start with, but he had opened up to him over the course of his training on the beach. It hadn't been by much, but he was much more comfortable around the behemoth of a man now. That was something.
"All Might!" Izuku said.
"Izuku! Are you excited?" All Might asked.
"Yeah! I'm ready to do what you asked of me. I'm ready to unveil myself as the Symbol of Hope," Izuku said.
"Good. I'll be in the audience, so I'll be able to see all the great things you can do now," All Might said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Right," Izuku said, suddenly feeling a lot more nervous.
The two went their separate ways after that, All Might heading toward the teachers' lounge and Izuku heading toward the classroom. As Izuku walked, he wondered if Ochako was going to be watching the Festival. It was reasonable, as he knew that Ochako didn't really have much to do other than lounge around and rest. Ochako was practically done healing, and she could even return to school immediately after the Festiva, so Izuku bet that she was developing a bit of cabin fever.
As he arrived at the classroom, Izuku found Yaoyorozu sitting in her seat alone. He walked in and waved at his Vice Representative, who smiled and waved back. Izuku walked over to his own seat, two forward from Yaoyorozu's, and sat down backwards to let him talk to her.
"Good morning, Midoriya," Yaoyorozu said.
"Good morning. How was your weekend?" Izuku asked.
"It was enjoyable. Yours?" Yaoyorozu answered.
"Fine. I've had this giddy feeling for a few days. It's probably because of the Festival," Izuku said.
"Everyone's excited, even if they aren't participating. The Business Course students are using it to practise weighing pros and cons of Hero Course students and calculate their worth," Yaoyorozu said, giggling lightly.
"That's kinda … cold, don't you think?" Izuku asked, a disgusted expression crossing his face.
"Yes, it is," Yaoyorozu said, the same expression as Izuku on her own face.
The door opened behind Izuku, and he turned to see Shinso walking through the door. He looked like he hadn't slept a wink, and Izuku immediately went to ask him if he was okay. Shinso must have seen him take a breath, because he put up a hand to silence Izuku as he sat down between him and Yaoyorozu.
"I know. I get it. I should've slept, and yes, I am tired, but no, I couldn't sleep. This stupid Sports Festival has been keeping me up," Shinso said, before yawning for a solid ten seconds straight.
"I was gonna say that I understand. The Festival has everyone excited, and not just the students. The whole country's gonna be watching us today, so it's understandable that you're a little nervous," Izuku said.
"Oh. Alright," Shinso said sheepishly.
After that, students began to pile in, everyone being ready to begin possibly their most daunting challenge yet, publicly announcing themselves as the next generation of peace keepers. As Hagakure sat down, visible due to the Invisi-Pad fastened around her wrist, Izuku approached.
"How does it feel being visible?" Izuku asked.
"Oh, it's fantastic! I went home and my parents cried for hours! This morning on the train, I got complimented on my hair. It's the gift that keeps on giving, and I have you to thank!" Hagakure said.
Izuku just now looked at Hagakure's hair, and he was surprised by just how much she had cleaned it up since Friday. It was wavy, clearly washed very well. It stretched to about her mid back, and was wavy right down to the ends. It was shiny, too, much more than it had been when he last saw her. He had the urge to compliment it as well, so he understood how the random people on the train had felt.
"That's great!" Izuku said, smiling brightly along with Hagakure.
Izuku could tell that Hagakure wasn't saying everything she felt. It must've been a downside of being invisible her whole life; she was terrible at hiding her emotions, and wore them on her sleeve, just like her retaining her exaggerated mannerisms due to her having to work to be noticed for most of her life. It was great that she could be seen now, but Izuku could tell that it would take some time for her quirks to flatten out into what her personality should have always been.
"What's wrong?" Izuku asked.
"Nothing, I just … I wish that I could help you in some way as repayment," Hagakure said, looking away.
"Oh, that's fine. The best way you could thank me is to get noticed in the Festival. There's gonna be a moment where you shine, maybe literally, and getting the recognition you deserve is almost inevitable from that point. That's what you can do to thank me," Izuku said.
"Thanks, Midoriya. Oh, hey! Have you, uh, told anyone yet?" Hagakure asked, looking around to check if anyone was listening to them.
"Uh, no. I just haven't really had a good opportunity. I thought that I was going to tell Uraraka, but the moment kind of passed by without me acting on it," Izuku said.
"That's the kind of stuff that'll get you nowhere, dude! What's going on with you and Uraraka, by the way?" Hagakure asked.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked back.
"Well, everyone thinks you guys are going out. I know you're not, but you've gotta admit, you two would be pretty cute together," Hagakure said.
"Oh. Uh, I don't know. I think she's … great. She's smart and funny and capable, and she's cute, but … I don't know. I thought I liked her, but you helped me work out that I'm … asexual has made me reconsider things. Both can't be right, can they?" Izuku explained.
"Both can absolutely be right. There's such a thing as 'romantic asexual'. I think that it's good for you to work this out, so don't shut yourself off from any feelings you may have. I've known people who can't accept that two things can be true, and the confusion wore them down until they rejected both sides," Hagakure said, patting Izuku on the shoulder comfortingly.
"Thanks. I'll … think about it," Izuku said, walking toward his own seat to think.
He knew he did feel something for Ochako, and that it definitely wasn't anything sexual, but he didn't know what it was. At first, he had thought it was admiration for her happy-go-lucky attitude and her aspirations. Then, he thought it was interest in her Quirk for its many applications. Now, though, he had no idea what to make of his feelings. They could be romantic, but he had a hard time melding that with his view of his asexuality, which was so fresh in his mind. He was figuring out so many things about himself, from his Quirks to his sexuality, that it was mind-boggling to take a step back and try to look at it as one picture.
Izuku was brought out from his thoughts by Yaoyorozu tapping him on the shoulder and showing him the time on her phone, telling him that it was time to go. He hopped up, remembering it was his duty to get the class organized, and ran to the front in a frantic fashion.
"Uh, it's time we head over to our prep room, so we should go and do that!" Izuku said, his voice breaking.
Some people laughed at him, but everyone began to walk toward the massive stadium just off UA's main campus that was solely for hosting athletic events such as the Sports Festival. As the class walked, they eventually joined up with Class-1B, and the two classes walked side by side with each other for quite some time, until a blond boy with grey eyes and an odd smile approached Izuku and started to talk.
"So, you're the famed Class-1A's Rep! You don't look like much, but then again, none of you really do. I suppose I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?" the boy rambled.
"No thanks," Izuku said, keeping his eyes in front of him.
"I'm-huh? What?" the boy faltered.
"If you're gonna be this weird … mix between passive-aggressive and just aggressive-aggressive toward me and my friends, then I'm gonna have to ask you to leave us alone. I'm sure you're powerful and cool, but right now you're coming off as insecure, so don't try to take that out on my class," Izuku said.
The boy walked away, with classes A and B watching with awed expressions. Class-A had never seen the side of Izuku that could hand out a serving of real-talk like that, and Class-B had likely never seen someone turn away what looked like one of their more well respected members in such a heartless way. Izuku didn't like talking like that, he just knew that if he let the boy talk, someone's feelings were going to get hurt, and it was his duty to protect his classmates in all aspects.
"Sorry about Monoma. He's got a few screws loose," Kendo said, catching up to Izuku from behind.
"It's fine. I just didn't want him to insult me or my class again. Someone was gonna get hurt in that situation, and it was gonna be him," Izuku said.
"Yeah. He has issues with thinking before he does stuff," Kendo said, smiling nervously.
"Some would say I have the same issue," Izuku laughed.
"I'd be inclined to agree. From what you told me about the USJ Incident, you're quite the impulsive one," Kendo said, grinning.
"Yeah. Uh, are you ready for our speech?" Izuku asked, changing the subject.
"You bet! I'm so excited! I gotta say; we wrote one hell of a speech!" Kendo said.
"We did! I gotta say, it's pretty good," Izuku said, grinning along with Kendo.
The students walked toward the stadium, and soon had to separate into their separate classes as they came upon their different preparation rooms.
In Class-1A's prep room, Izuku spotted Todoroki glaring at him from across the room. He had been giving Izuku strange looks for weeks, ever since the USJ Incident. He guessed it had been his display of his true power, but it seemed to run deeper than that. This was something that was personal, almost. Izuku had wanted to talk to Todoroki about it for a while, but hadn't found a proper moment outside of class time, as they didn't exactly talk much. Todoroki didn't talk much.
"Todoroki. If I have something on my face, can you please tell me?" Izuku said, stepping toward the taller boy.
"You're connected to All Might in some way," Todoroki said, without prompting.
"Wha-?" Izuku faltered.
"Don't try to deny it; we all see how All Might pulls you aside at every opportunity to talk. I'm not going to pry into why that is, but your connection to All Might, as well as your similar power level, parallels my connection with Endeavour," Todoroki said.
"Where are you going with this?" Izuku asked.
"Speaking about raw power, I'm better than you. Speaking about raw potential, however, you're clearly superior. If I beat you, then I'll show my old man that I can surpass All Might using only my left side," Todoroki said, glaring harshly at Izuku.
"Why is that necessary? Why can't I be my own person, and you yours? I won't pretend to get why you're trying to put this plot on me, but I'm not gonna take it. You may want to take me down specifically, but don't discount our classmates. We're all trying our best, so watch out for all of us," Izuku said, clenching his fists tightly.
"Why the declarations of war? Why can't we all just have a good time today?" Hagakure asked.
"'War' is a pretty good way to describe this whole thing, isn't it? We're all fighting for the top spot, and we need to go all out if we wanna win. We should be treating each other like threats to our futures, right? That's the point of this damn event," Bakugo said, sitting in a corner alone.
"We're a class! We should never turn on each other, right?" Ashido asked.
"I think that both Todoroki and Bakugo are right," Izuku said, not breaking his eyes away from Todoroki.
"What?" the class shouted in unison.
"We're all aiming for the top, so we need to think of each other as obstacles, not as our friends. Each and every person in this room is an enemy today, and we need to start thinking like it. When we go out there, we're competing for the attention of the whole country, not some silly medallion. We are fighting for our very futures, like Bakugo said, and we need to fight with all our power," Izuku said.
The members of 1A looked around at each other, emboldened by Izuku's short speech. Izuku kept his eyes on Todoroki, though, who kept his eyes on Izuku in return.
"So Todoroki, don't you dare use only half your power on me during the Festival. I want you to come at me with both your ice and your fire, because I won't be holding back," Izuku said.
Izuku walked away from Todoroki, feeling his point had been made. He walked about halfway across the room before seeing the clock, and noticing that it was time for them to go, time for the Festival to begin.
The class walked with him, making their way through the halls until they reached an exit. Midnight was welcoming the audience to the UA facility, and when she spotted the students lined up at the mouth of the hall, she grinned and called the students out, signalling them to enter the stadium.
Izuku stepped out into the light, and the crowd in the stands went into a frenzy, getting their first look at the Hero Course first year students. Yaoyorozu followed him, then Bakugo, then Shinso, and the members of Class-1A all followed each other into the spotlight, and soon the entire class was out in the sunlight. The students walked across the field, Izuku smiling proudly as he walked with his back straight and his head held high. He had watched a lecture on how to appear confident, and had practiced over the weekend.
As Izuku stopped at his designated point, his classmates lined up beside and behind him. The class came to a rest in a line of five with a total of four lines. The other classes lined up in an identical fashion, and waited for Midnight to continue her introduction. She approached the microphone on her stage again.
"Now, welcoming you to this year's Sports Festival, Izuku Midoriya of Class-1A and Itsuka Kendo of Class-1B!" Midnight cheered, stepping to the side of the podium that held the microphone.
Izuku began to walk toward the stage at his cue. He joined up with Kendo just before the steps leading up to the platform, letting her go up the steps first, getting a distant 'aww' from the audience. He had to duck his head to hide the light blush that crossed his face at the audience's reaction to his politeness, but quickly shook it off as he grabbed the wireless microphone that Kendo handed him.
"Hello, everyone. As Midnight just said, my name is Izuku Midoriya, and I'm the Representative for Class-1A. About two weeks ago, my class and I were attacked by Villains. We had expected a run of the mill rescue training class, but we ended up having to save ourselves. Nobody should have to experience the kind of primal fear we did in that place, but it happened. I don't want your sympathy, and I don't want your condolences. I want you to know something; we aren't traumatized. We're motivated. Contrary to popular belief, my classmates and I haven't been irreparably psychologically damaged from that attack; we've been filled with resolve to do better, train harder and get stronger for the next time we meet that kind of threat, so that we'll be ready. We faced true evil, but we beat it back. We're UA, and we're going to Go Beyond, Plus Ultra style!" Izuku said, raising his fist to mimic All Might's famous victory pose.
The crowd cheered for Izuku's part of the speech, and he backed away from the podium to let the focus go toward Kendo. She gave him a discreet thumbs up behind her back, and smiled at the audience, waiting for them to calm down enough for her to be heard. Izuku had thought it was a pretty good message, that they were going to be trying their best to overcome the kind of threats they had faced at such a young age, but he had felt like it would be too harsh. Apparently, he had been on the right track, as the audience had eaten it up.
"After that, you might be thinking something like 'What could this girl say that he hasn't?', right?" I'm not going to lie to you, I wasn't there. I'm the Class Representative for 1B, Itsuka Kendo. When we heard the news of an attack, we were appalled. We didn't know that anyone was even capable of breaking into our school, but it was a rude awakening. It drove us to train harder, so that we may be able to help in another time of need. We missed the attack this time, but next time, we'll be there, and that'll be the end of it," Kendo said.
The two of them walked off the stage, joining the rest of their classes. They gave each other a small fist bump as they split paths, and Izuku smiled knowing that he had such a good friend in Kendo. He was lucky that they got along, and that Kendo wasn't similar to the way Bakugo had acted before UA. He didn't think he'd be able to handle working with Bakugo, but with a strength enhancement Quirk instead.
Midnight approached the microphone again, the crowd still roaring their thoughts on the speech. It was short, but Izuku and Kendo thought that it portrayed their thoughts on the attack and on the Festival quite clearly. They were Going Beyond, and nobody was going to stop them.
"Well, what a start! Now for the choosing of the first event!" Midnight said, walking toward a large blue wheel with colored segments.
Midnight spun the wheel, aptly named the 'Wheel of Misfortune', which looked to be filled with painful, yet entertaining, ways to eliminate participants from the Festival. None of them looked like too much difficulty, Midnight likely having three wheels to choose from. The Festival always followed the same general format; free for all, team battle, one on one fight. The specifics changed from year to year, but the vague outline remained the same.
"Obstacle Race!" Midnight cheered, the wheel landing on a yellow segment.
The screens at the top of the stadium turned on, then, and displayed the words 'Obstacle Race'. The screens then switched to the outside of the stadium, which was already set up as an Obstacle Race. Izuku realized that the events may be less random than UA led people to believe, and he could see by the look on his classmates' faces that they were thinking the same thing.
"First up is the Bot-Mitzvah! Runners will navigate around robots designed to exterminate them! Be careful!" Midnight said, accompanied by shots of the same robots from the entrance exam on the screens above her.
"Then, runners will cross The Fall. A hundred meter drop under a thin web of cables and platforms!" Midnight continued, supplied with some more shots of the stage she was describing, extremely thin cables connected to small islands made of rock.
"Finally, those who survive this long will have to cross The Minefield! These mines won't hurt you, but they'll pack a punch and send you flying into next week!" Midnight yelled, accompanied by shots of regular ground, though there were a lot of bumps across the field that Izuku presumed were the tells for where the mines were located.
Izuku heard a few nervous whispers of curses around him, but he held his ground and kept the confident face he had been maintaining the whole time. Izuku reasoned that he could get past all of the stages of the race fairly easily, but he was worried about how other students, namely Todoroki and Bakugo, would interfere with his progress.
"All participants, make your way to the starting line and wait for the signal to begin," Midnight said, and the students began to make their way to the white line running across the entrance to a short tunnel.
Izuku walked over to the starting line, and fell into step with Todoroki, who glared at him like he had kicked the boy's dog. Bakugo was also eyeing the two of them warily, and that was what told Izuku that this was going to be difficult. He stopped next to Yaoyorozu, who was tying her hair back into a more functional ponytail.
"That was a nice message," Yaoyorozu said.
"Thanks. Kendo came up with most of it," Izuku said, and Yaoyorozu's smile dropped.
Izuku remembered how Kendo had, almost aggressively, flirted with Yaoyorozu almost every time they spoke to each other. He had found it amusing how flustered Yaoyorozu would get every time Kendo hit on her, but had quickly switched to trying to help Kendo learn to tone it down when she wanted to talk to Yaoyorozu.
"What's wrong?" Izuku asked.
"Nothing. It's … Kendo. I'm not sure if I like how forward she is," Yaoyorozu said, going through stretches.
"Is that it? Or are you not sure if you like the way she compliments you?" Izuku asked, going through some similar stretches.
"Maybe. What if Kendo is simply flirty, but not really interested in me? What if I'm blowing it out of proportion, assuming things are happening by reading too far into little things?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Yaoyorozu, I'm sure that if you just talked to Kendo about this, she'd simmer down and talk it out with you. I'm fairly sure that she does really like you. She's certainly tried to make it clear," Izuku laughed, flexing his arms while switching One for All on and off as quickly as he could in his arms.
"I know! This is all so confusing! I've never liked a girl like this before. What am I supposed to do?" Yaoyorozu said.
"I think you just have to work it out. Unless you ask for help, you're not gonna find any. I suggest trying to talk to Kendo and see if you feel anything more," Izuku said, finishing up his preparation.
"Thank you, Midoriya," Yaoyorozu said, stepping away to think about some things.
Izuku looked around, seeing all of his classmates getting ready for the event. He was glad to see everyone so fired up for the Festival, as the class had been less than enthusiastic at the beginning of their training. As Izuku, Todoroki and Bakugo, as well as a few others, had thrown themselves into the preparation for the huge event, some other classmates had stagnated in terms of growth, not really being too excited for the Festival.
He nodded to a few of his closer friends among the class, with them nodding back with confident smirks on all their faces. Izuku liked being around the excited air of competition, having lacked it in his childhood. During Gym classes, Izuku had always been bullied out of participating, so it was fun now to be able to prove himself capable. He already knew he could be a Hero, a great one, even, but he was going to prove it to the world, and nothing would get in his way.
"Okay! The first event of the first years' Sports Festival, the Obstacle Race, will begin in three …" Midnight announced.
Izuku looked to his right, locking eyes with Todoroki, and to his left, meeting Bakugo's eyes. He was smiling, despite his nerves, and he wasn't going to stop, even if he felt like shrinking under everyone's gazes.
" … two …" Midnight continued.
A small amount One for All flooded Izuku's legs, Bakugo's palms crackled with barely contained explosions, and the air around the kids dropped by around ten degrees. Izuku knew that everyone was ready, and all that was holding them back was Midnight's countdown. He closed his eyes, raising the level of OFA's power being pumped into his legs to his safe limit, six percent.
" … one! GO!" Midnight yelled, and the Obstacle Race began.